Mary Englert just finished her junior year at St. John's University in Jamaica, N.Y., and is still looking for a summer job at a public-relations company. Although the communications major has good grades and relevant work experience, she says there just aren't enough openings in her field. "It's really competitive out there," she says.

Ms. Englert has been looking for a summer job for several months now, but many college students have just embarked on searches. College career centers report that a steady stream of freshmen and sophomores have been coming to their offices over the past few weeks for tips on where to begin.

"I'm suspecting that when the market wasn't so good in the fall, a lot of students said there was no point in looking," says Monica Wilson, assistant director of employer relations at the career-services office of Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H. "Now they're hearing that things are starting to improve," so they are looking at the last minute.

In general, it has been slightly tougher for students to find internships this year. A February-March survey of 212 employers by the National Association of Colleges and Employers in Bethlehem, Pa., found that the employers planned to trim the number of interns hired for the 2003-2004 school year and summer by 1.8% compared with a year earlier.

About 97% of the responding employers with internship programs said they paid their interns. At the undergraduate level, interns earned an average salary of $12.43 an hour.

But for college students who just embarked on their searches, all is not lost. Many organizations waited until the last minute to post summer jobs and internships or are still looking for the right person. Some, particularly nonprofits, might have just snagged the funding for a project and are now seeking help. Others had an intern cancellation at the last minute.

"With the improving economy, summer opportunities are opening up along with full-time positions," says Jack Tinker, director of recruiting at Connecticut College's office of career-enhancing life skills in New London.

At this point, a student's best bet at finding a summer job is networking. Contact your parents' friends. Ask your parents to give you names and phone numbers of their lawyer, accountant and bank manager. Reach out to the parents of friends and the alumni network at your school. Ask your friends if they have obtained summer jobs; if so, try to get the name and number of the person who hired them to see if the organization has additional openings.

Be prepared to volunteer if you are looking for a summer job in which you will get professional experience. Most paid summer internships have already been filled, so getting one is a long shot at this point. "Many students do well by balancing a volunteering internship with working part time to earn money to cover their living expenses," says Bekki Lee, internship coordinator and associate dean of students at Amherst College in Amherst, Mass.

How are you apt to be viewed by employers if you waited until the last minute to pursue a summer opportunity? It depends on the industry, says Beth Lundberg, the internship coordinator in the career-service office at Northwestern University. It looks bad if you are applying for a competitive consulting or finance job, but there could have been a situation where an internship fell through because of funding cuts.

Consider smaller companies. If you are interested in a particular field, find a smaller company in that area and do your research. Check out the company's Web site if it has one and find out how many employees it has and any recent deals it might have done. Instead of sending a resume, cold call the company and sell yourself. Many students who attend college in a large city try to find jobs while staying on or near campus. But it might be advantageous to go home, especially if you are from a small town. There might be some better opportunities at local small businesses where you obtain great hands-on experience.

"A lot of this is pounding the pavement and marketing yourself well," says Ms. Wilson of Dartmouth.